Why Does Holiness
Matter?
Why Does Holiness
Matter?
[Why Does Holiness Matter? by
Chris Russell] But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)
"Throughout the Scriptures, we see a huge celebration of the holiness of God;
yet, most of us really don’t have a full grasp of what it means to be holy. The
original word for holiness in the Hebrew meant to be “set apart” or to be
“separated from” something. As it applies to God, we see that He is exalted
above and completely separate from any type of sin, flaw, or moral imperfection.
It’s interesting to note that God’s Word proceeds from mouth of a holy God. The
Scriptures are perfect and infallible, and they can be trusted in every way. It
is the fact that God is holy that allows Him to be able to give us such a
document.
The Scriptures also indicate that, even as God is holy, we should be holy in all
manner of lifestyle. We are to follow that divine example. Now on this planet,
we certainly will never attain complete holiness, for we are ever warring with
our old, sinful nature. But holiness is the target for which we are to direct
our actions. Sin puts a barrier between us and God. Holiness brings communion
and fellowship with Him–holiness is required in order for anyone to have eternal
life with God in heaven (Romans 8:11–14; Hebrews 12:14). This was accomplished
through Jesus Christ as He took on all of our sins on the cross so that God may
see us as holy (Colossians 1:19–22).
As we grow in our journey with God and become stronger in our own personal
holiness, we will actually begin to hate sin and its effects. We grow to despise
those things that interfere with our intimacy with God and those things which
bring so much pain to others here on this earth. And we will seek to avoid those
things with a passion.
Toilet water may appear to be clean, but you would never be so foolish as to
take a drink of it! That’s because no matter how pure it may look, you still
know that it is contaminated. And it does not take much impurity to make that
water unclean! In a similar way, we must understand sin to be a filthy
contaminant to our spirit, and we must avoid those things through the power of
the Holy Spirit." Why Does Holiness Matter? Russell.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/05/27/holiness-matter
